WSJ: Suburbs a Mile Too Far for Some Demographic Changes, High Gasoline Prices May Hasten Demand for Urban LivingMessrs. Boseman and Wells embody trends that are dovetailing to potentially reshape a half-century-long pattern of how and where Americans live: The drivable suburb -- that bedrock … [Read more...]
EcoDensity: Scary Name, but Not-so-Bad
Vancouver's City Council has approved an "EcoDensity" policy.How is EcoDensity different from regular density, which already comes pre-equipped with environmental benefits?Well, its just an environmental-sounding catch-prefix and comes with less bureaucracy for green … [Read more...]
Socialist Cities
So, you think the planners in your area are taking something a little too far? Be glad you aren't in Venezuela...I wish I could link to the article by Michael Mehaffy in The Urban Land Institute's May edition of Urban Land titled "Venezuela's New Socialist Cities", but ULI doesn't provide the … [Read more...]
CTA “Super Station” Mothballed
Photo by flickr user mss2400 Thanks, DBM for the tip: Faced with runaway costs, the CTA and City Hall slammed the emergency brakes Wednesday on ambitious plans to build a "super station" in downtown's Block 37 to speed express trains to both Chicago's airports.A combined $213 million has been … [Read more...]
Quinn Proposes to Revamp Rent Control ‘Freakshow’
Curbed NY - Christine Quinn, Hands Off Our Freakshow!Fact: The biggest joke in New York is the Rent Guidelines Board. Every year this nine-member panel gathers to hold a series of circus-like public hearings on rent increases (or, heh, decreases) for stabilized apartments. Every year, tenant … [Read more...]
Cubs Fail to Sell Wrigley to State (100 years of faith for sale)
I received a message from a reader with a link: Probably not as interesting to your NY readers, but Wrigley is back on the market. Can't say I like the cubs, but you have to give credit (?) to their fans, 100 years of painful loss and they still love the cubs. I'm guessing most of the fans would … [Read more...]
Bush’s “Ownership Society” and Subprime
From Rationalitate - The WaPo finally realizes the root cause of the subprime crisisAgencies like FHA and HUD, and pseudo-private agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were the government's tool to manipulate the market for mortgages, and manipulate it they did: 40% of all mortgages are … [Read more...]
Want Density? Turn the Free Market Loose
Matthew Yglesias - What Price Density The solution, as Ryan Avent says, is to build denser communities. We ought to build more transit infrastructure, of course, but it's cheaper to use what we already have more intensively. And, of course, it's more practical to build new infrastructure if there's … [Read more...]